James Johnston Young

Unfortunately it's going to be difficult to trace John any further using the details to hand - since he died before the start of civil records there will be no death cert. The alternate option is to try parish records. He is shown as 'P' Protestant on his service records so most likely Church of Ireland, but early Taghmon parish records do not survive. A parish or at least approximate area would be required to check availability of death records for other areas - very few Church of Ireland parish records for Co. Wexford are available on line. Another option might be a search for a possible headstone transcript - although bear in mind that not every grave had a headstone, and many early headstones are now illegible or long fallen over.

Similarly working back with any certainty is also going to be a problem without additional details - e.g. a more detailed location or some family information such as father's name and occupation. 'Dublin' can refer to the City, Suburbs or County, and there are quite a few parishes, many of which are not available online, and others where older records no longer survive. Church of Ireland Records for most of the Dublin City parishes are available on the free IrishGenealogy website.

Some of the R.I.C. records include the name of a reference used when joining, which is generally a prominent person in the area the applicant lived - this can be a useful clue as to his origin, but this example doesn't include that...  R.I.C. were not usually allowed marry until they have served a certain number of years, I believe 7, so there may be a civil marriage record (since they appear to be CofI) some time after 1852 for James and his wife - do you know Elizabeth's surname or where their children were born ?

Thank you, Shane!

I realize that these last names sound English so I may have to cross the Irish sea for more answers.  I feel like I've been hunting for James for a very long time.

I have no record of James's parents nor his marriage to Elizabeth.  He joined the RIC when he was 30 so there are a lot of questions.

Elizabeth's maiden name was Schahil or Scahill.  Her parents were Edward J Schahil or Scahill.  Her mother was Isabella Melville.  They married at St Paul's in Dublin City on 27 Jul 1809.

The only records of James and Elizabeth's children I found were

     Anna Melville Young (married name was Baker) born 5 Nov 1846 in Easkey, Sligo -- I have a lot of information on Anna as she was my 3x Great Grandmother.

     Another daughter born 19 Jul 1854 in Taghmon, Wexford.  I got this from a newspaper announcement so I do not know if Elizabeth was the child's mother.

Thanks!

Janet

I was hoping James and Elizabeth might have married after he joined the RIC as that would have meant that a marriage cert might be available to give father's names etc...but based on Anne's date of birth, but it seems he may have been married before joining... (registration of non-catholic marriages commenced in 1845).  I had a quick check of 1845/46 marriage in the civil index but no promising matches showed up there. Before 1845 you there would only be parish records of marriage which can be difficult to locate as not all are available online or survive. In any case pre-1845 Church of Ireland parish marriage records dont include that much detail, just the date name of the bride & groom, sometimes a residences and witnesses... so not much in the way of clues to follow up.

There are a number of baptisms for the name James Young in Dublin City and County around the right time on IrishGenealogy and RootsIreland (pay-website), but the problem is figuring out if any one of these is 'your' James

The older Taghmon Church of Ireland parish records dont survive so you were lucky to find that newspaper announcement for her.

Thanks for all your help.

I'm also curious in following up on Isabella but I guess that would be harder because the records are older.  I found her marriage in Catholic registers but only listed witnesses.  

Trying to prove or disprove family stories has been one of my goals.